Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Grows Position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Ares Management by 18.3%, acquiring an additional 174,645 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 1,128,415 shares.
• Institutional ownership of Ares Management stock is currently at 50.03%, with several firms, including FMR LLC and Millennium Management LLC, significantly increasing their stakes over the past quarter.
• Ares Management reported a Q2 earnings miss with earnings of $1.03 per share, which was below the consensus estimate of $1.15, despite generating revenue of $1.35 billion for the period.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,128,415 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 174,645 shares during the period. Ares Management makes up 0.8% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.36% of Ares Management worth $165,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARES. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.2% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 95,262 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,966,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.7% during the first quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 18,055 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,647,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 29.5% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,870 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 74,151 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,871,000 after purchasing an additional 3,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 58.6% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 45,136 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,617,000 after buying an additional 16,680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 62,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total transaction of $10,585,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 62,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,585,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.3%

ARES stock traded down $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $187.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,602,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,366,708. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.66, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.40. Ares Management Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 258.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.56.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.